Big Bang Theory - "The Raiders Minimization", episode 139

russds

New member
Anybody catch this episode? It's on CBS online, if anyone is interested. (not sure for how long though)

One of the main plots of the episode is that one of the characters love of Raiders is bombed when his girlfriend tells him the whole plot of Raiders has a giant hole - everything would have happened if Indy was there or not. Ark found, Ark Opened, Nazis Die, etc.

I'm curious if anyone saw it, and what you thought of it?

I've heard the 'theory' before, but my thought is that there are so many happenstance things that happen because of Indy's involvement, it's not a hole at all. The Nazis may have never been able to find Marion, therefore gaining the medallion, if they did find the Ark, who knows what would have happened if it was flown out as originally planned; also at the end, perhaps Indy and Marion were the sole survivors, and if everyone on the island died, maybe that Ark would have never been recovered, etc, etc.

Anyway, I thought it was kind of dumb, and wish they had pointed out more of the holes in the 'hole' she found, but whatever. Fun to see Raiders get some media attention.
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
What the episode didn't portend, (and rightfully so, as the show is a comedy) is that that hole, as it is so described, is what makes the character so endearing. Long reply, short...because he is such a non-affecting failure is why we can empathize to him so well.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Pale Horse said:
as the show is a comedy

You would think so, by the canned laughter.

The plot hole in The Big Bang Theory, however, is that there isn't anything funny in it all, which is why the makers un-can the laughter after every single line. Like a form of torture intended to make a prisoner spill the beans, the constant laughter induces the gullible to believe that it's funny.

It would still be just as unfunny whether the main characters were there or not, and the laughter track would still be running.

However, with ROTLA, if Indy wasn't there the Germans would still be digging in the wrong place when the British tanks arrived.
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
I've read that "theory" once or twice before. There's even a thread about it here somewhere I believe.

Anyway, Belloq was the one who wanted to open the Ark in the first place. Hitler had no interest in the Ark itself other than to use it as blackmail of other countries to win WWII. So Indy did have a purpose: getting the Ark out of the hands of the Nazis and into the hands of the US government.

Montana Smith said:
You would think so, by the canned laughter.

The plot hole in The Big Bang Theory, however, is that there isn't anything funny in it all, which is why the makers un-can the laughter after every single line. Like a form of torture intended to make a prisoner spill the beans, the constant laughter induces the gullible to believe that it's funny.

Oh come on, The Big Bang Theory is not that bad. As far as laugh-track sitcoms(which admittedly is a dying format) go, it's actually pretty witty and clever a lot of the time. It at least gets points for having the characters actually acknowledge when other characters make jokes.

This actually isn't the first time the show referenced Indiana Jones. They once had an entire episode dedicated to it; they even mentioned Deborah Nadoolman by name, so it's obvious genuine "nerds" write for the show.
 

Spurlock

New member
Forbidden Eye said:
This actually isn't the first time the show referenced Indiana Jones. They once had an entire episode dedicated to it; they even mentioned Deborah Nadoolman by name, so it's obvious genuine "nerds" write for the show.

What episode is this? I've seen most, if not all of them, and can't recall it.
 

kongisking

Active member
Forbidden Eye said:
Oh come on, The Big Bang Theory is not that bad. As far as laugh-track sitcoms(which admittedly is a dying format) go, it's actually pretty witty and clever a lot of the time. It at least gets points for having the characters actually acknowledge when other characters make jokes.

Agreed. I have a distaste for the concept of laugh-track sitcoms, but there are a few that actually manage to be charming and witty in spite of it. Big Bang Theory is one of them. Though, I'm likely biased because it's a nerd-friendly show...

As for the Raiders plot-hole, I see what they're saying. If the Ark had gotten to Berlin, how much you wanna bet ol' Toothbrush Mustache himself would want to open her up and peek inside, to satisfy his own sick obsession for the occult? Perfectly in character for the man, I say. So, if Indy had simply said, "Sorry, got a fertility idol to snatch from Marrakesh" to the MI fellows and not gone on the adventure, WWII would have ended much quicker, I imagine...

But does this makes Raiders a waste of time? On the contrary, it makes it even more interesting, as from this perspective, it shows a neat "close but no cigar" event that could have ended the war, but terrible luck allowed the conflict to continue, like Project Valkyrie.
 

Spurlock

New member
Forbidden Eye said:
Wow, I completely forgot about that one.

For shows with laugh tracks, BBT is in my opinion the best. Witty and nerdy while teaching some good lessons with fun characters, it's better than the basic sitcom.

And kongisking, if everyone on the island died, no one would there to bring it back. Because they just randomly picked an island, it's not like the Nazi's would know where to begin looking either. So Hitler may have never even had the chance.

And a small question for those who've dedicated more of their memory than me to this series, but is there any explanation for how Toht or the Nazi's know that Abner had the headpiece. Without Indiana to grease the wheels with Marion, how would they have gotten it? (taking into account they couldn't torture it out of her). It's actually been a very long time since I've watched Raiders from beginning to end, and haven't seen anything before the map room scene for ages.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Spurlock said:
And kongisking, if everyone on the island died, no one would there to bring it back. Because they just randomly picked an island, it's not like the Nazi's would know where to begin looking either. So Hitler may have never even had the chance.
Ahem. That "random" island had a German sub pen, so it's actually a fair assumption that some Bratwurst-eating, goose-stepping goon would have come across the place sooner or later. Presumably not long after the moment someone noticed their base has gone off the radar.

And while the movie does take some liberties with military procedure, Navy vessels don't usually just sail around seas on the whim of the crew. And even when they do, they're obliged to report their location at steady intervals. Which means the High Command is usually rather well aware of at least the approximate whereabouts of all their boats, even if they had just picked an unassumed island and run ashore. Which they didn't do in the first place.
 

JurassicPrince

New member
Montana Smith said:
You would think so, by the canned laughter.

The plot hole in The Big Bang Theory, however, is that there isn't anything funny in it all, which is why the makers un-can the laughter after every single line. Like a form of torture intended to make a prisoner spill the beans, the constant laughter induces the gullible to believe that it's funny.

It would still be just as unfunny whether the main characters were there or not, and the laughter track would still be running.

I am glad I am not alone in my dislike for this show.

Anyways, what you said is so correct. The only reason they dug in the right place, was because Indy led them to the medallion for the staff of Ra. Had Indy never been in the picture, they would never have known where to dig at all.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
JurassicPrince said:
I am glad I am not alone in my dislike for this show.

I was starting to doubt my sanity back there.

Well, I still doubt my sanity, but not so much in regards to The Big Bang Theory!

JurassicPrince said:
Anyways, what you said is so correct. The only reason they dug in the right place, was because Indy led them to the medallion for the staff of Ra. Had Indy never been in the picture, they would never have known where to dig at all.

That was my thinking. Without Indy there's no Marion connection leading back to Abner, and the headpiece therefore remains in obscurity in Nepal.

Indy was followed onto the aeroplane at the beginning of his journey to Nepal by a shady looking agent/visual effects artist...

109.jpg



And in reality, who knows the outcome of a given situation? The story is a journey in which Indy's decisions and reactions dictate the course of events. If he wasn't there we would be bereft of a lunatic on horseback galloping after a German convoy!
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Montana Smith said:
That was my thinking. Without Indy there's no Marion connection leading back to Abner, and the headpiece therefore remains in obscurity in Nepal.


WRONG!

Indy only fast-tracked the Nazi plan already in place. He didn't provide it.

Musgrove

Here it is--"Tanis development proceeding. Acquire headpiece, Staff
of Ra, General Tengtu Hok, Shanghai. Locate Abner Ravenwood, U.S."​

They would have found Abner, and his family and proceeded from there. It can be argued that the British might have found the Nazi's in the desert, before they found the Well of Souls, but they were already in Tanis, it was just a matter of time.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Pale Horse said:
WRONG!

Indy only fast-tracked the Nazi plan already in place. He didn't provide it.



They would have found Abner, and his family and proceeded from there. It can be argued that the British might have found the Nazi's in the desert, before they found the Well of Souls, but they were already in Tanis, it was just a matter of time.

That was only in the parallel universe in which Hok existed.

He was broken down into atoms and reconstituted as Lao Che. ;)
 

kongisking

Active member
JurassicPrince said:
I am glad I am not alone in my dislike for this show.

Anyways, what you said is so correct. The only reason they dug in the right place, was because Indy led them to the medallion for the staff of Ra. Had Indy never been in the picture, they would never have known where to dig at all.

Nope. The Nazis already knew Abner had information about the medallion they sought, according to the communique. They eventually would have confronted Marion, being his daughter, and thus Toht would take the medallion and Belloq would have been able to find the bonus inscription telling him to take back one kadam. So he would have been able to dig in the right spot.

And also, this just occurred to me, it was only after Indy's meddlesome interference that Belloq had the idea of bringing the Ark to the island to open it up, likely because it struck him that if Indy was still alive even after Katanga claimed to have killed him, Jones would keep messing with their plans until he won. That's how damned lucky Indy is.

So Belloq figured he'd take the Ark to the island planning to open it and attempt contact with God...but also to draw Indy out of hiding and capture him before he could cause any more trouble.

I say this because if Indy hadn't been around, the Ark would have been flown to Berlin as planned, and if I remember correctly, Belloq didn't look like he was making preparations to open the thing before it was to be loaded onto the flying wing.

So, this means Indy did make a difference: by interfering, he caused Belloq to delay the Ark's delivery to Hitler both to satisfy his own curiosity and to lure Indy into a trap. Which, of course, led to Belloq and those Nazis' deaths and Indy getting possession of the Ark. It's just unfortunate that the difference he made was not a good one: his actions kept the war going, and thus inadvertently allowed the Nazis to murder hundreds more innocent people.

Raiders is a lot more depressing to watch now, isn't it? :p
 

Montana Smith

Active member
kongisking said:
Nope. The Nazis already knew Abner had information about the medallion they sought, according to the communique.

Yes, that was in the novel, too. So I suppose it was also in the film, which haven't seen in years. (Part of the plot that didn't go the way of Hok).

kongisking said:
They eventually would have confronted Marion, being his daughter, and thus Toht would take the medallion and Belloq would have been able to find the bonus inscription telling him to take back one kadam. So he would have been able to dig in the right spot.

Indy's presence slowed them down by keeping the headpiece out of their hands. Though without him the British authorities in Egypt would have done the more logical thing: not tiptoe around in the dark but openly confront Dietrich and Belloq, while telephoning Berlin.

he military portion of the dig would have been evicted. Without them there wouldn't be anyone left to protect Belloq or his discovery, should the British permit the dig to continue (letting the Frenchman find it for them).

kongisking said:
And also, this just occurred to me, it was only after Indy's meddlesome interference that Belloq had the idea of bringing the Ark to the island to open it up, likely because it struck him that if Indy was still alive even after Katanga claimed to have killed him, Jones would keep messing with their plans until he won. That's how damned lucky Indy is.

So Belloq figured he'd take the Ark to the island planning to open it and attempt contact with God...but also to draw Indy out of hiding and capture him before he could cause any more trouble.

I say this because if Indy hadn't been around, the Ark would have been flown to Berlin as planned, and if I remember correctly, Belloq didn't look like he was making preparations to open the thing before it was to be loaded onto the flying wing.

Belloq had the robes and staff with him, so I think he always had plans to open it before bringing it to Hitler. Indy's intervention forced him to delay those plans and change their location.

kongisking said:
So, this means Indy did make a difference: by interfering, he caused Belloq to delay the Ark's delivery to Hitler both to satisfy his own curiosity and to lure Indy into a trap. Which, of course, led to Belloq and those Nazis' deaths and Indy getting possession of the Ark. It's just unfortunate that the difference he made was not a good one: his actions kept the war going, and thus inadvertently allowed the Nazis to murder hundreds more innocent people.

Though if Indy hadn't been there, and if nobody else bothered to stop Germany (as in the case of Hitler fooling his weak opponents, e.g., Chamberlain in Munich, 1938), then Belloq would have taken the Ark to Berlin.

Once opened it would seek out all the black-hearted Nazis present along with their guards - hopefully the likes of Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Hess, Goering, etc. Thus cutting the head off the bloated turkey. With these individual out of the way it would have been far easier for Germany's right-thinking Generals to put a stop to the madness that was coming.

Because of Indy's involvement there was war and the murder of millions. A weakened Germany created a stronger Russia, and therefore the cold war.
 

kongisking

Active member
Montana Smith said:
Belloq had the robes and staff with him, so I think he always had plans to open it before bringing it to Hitler. Indy's intervention forced him to delay those plans and change their location.

Didn't think of that. Unless, if during the unclarified amount of time between Indy and Marion getting onto Katanga's ship and the U-boat finding them, Belloq hastily made arrangements for the delivery of those items to the island? My theory could still work, then.

Though if Indy hadn't been there, and if nobody else bothered to stop Germany (as in the case of Hitler fooling his weak opponents, e.g., Chamberlain in Munich, 1938), then Belloq would have taken the Ark to Berlin.

Once opened it would seek out all the black-hearted Nazis present along with their guards - hopefully the likes of Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Hess, Goering, etc. Thus cutting the head off the bloated turkey. With these individual out of the way it would have been far easier for Germany's right-thinking Generals to put a stop to the madness that was coming.

Because of Indy's involvement there was war and the murder of millions. A weakened Germany created a stronger Russia, and therefore the cold war.

Ha! That technically makes the whole of KOTCS a story of Indy being hoisted by his own petard! Another thing in its favor!
 

Spurlock

New member
This theory is only really true is you consider the main goal of Indiana Jones to be the Ark. Which, by the end, it wasn't. It was Marion.

Now here is where Jones's involvement matters. Indiana Jones saved Marion from torture, becoming Belloq's play thing, and most importantly, saves her from the Ark. If Indiana hadn't been with Marion at the opening of the Ark to tell her not to look, she definitely would have. But because he was there, she was saved, the Ark was brought to the good guys, and Mutt Williams was created. (y)
 

kongisking

Active member
Spurlock said:
This theory is only really true is you consider the main goal of Indiana Jones to be the Ark. Which, by the end, it wasn't. It was Marion.

Now here is where Jones's involvement matters. Indiana Jones saved Marion from torture, becoming Belloq's play thing, and most importantly, saves her from the Ark. If Indiana hadn't been with Marion at the opening of the Ark to tell her not to look, she definitely would have. But because he was there, she was saved, the Ark was brought to the good guys, and Mutt Williams was created. (y)

Well, the plot hole that has so many in a tizzy is about if Indy in any way contributed to the fate of the villains. My new stance is that by being on the island to take possession of the Ark after it killed the Nazis there, he did make a difference to history, just a horrifyingly bad one in hindsight.

But you are still right: once he did get involved, he made a number of differences to things like Marion's fate. But again, if Indy hadn't agreed to get the Ark in the first place, he wouldn't have been there to stop Marion being hot-pokered by Toht, possibly even killed.

This all comes back to the original problem, that Indy's involvement didn't make any significant difference to the bigger picture other than a resoundingly depressing one. But instead of ruining the movie for me, instead this plot hole turns it from a simple fun, rollicking adventure film into an epic tragedy.
 

Spurlock

New member
kongisking said:
Well, the plot hole that has so many in a tizzy is about if Indy in any way contributed to the fate of the villains. My new stance is that by being on the island to take possession of the Ark after it killed the Nazis there, he did make a difference to history, just a horrifyingly bad one in hindsight.

But you are still right: once he did get involved, he made a number of differences to things like Marion's fate. But again, if Indy hadn't agreed to get the Ark in the first place, he wouldn't have been there to stop Marion being hot-pokered by Toht, possibly even killed.

This all comes back to the original problem, that Indy's involvement didn't make any significant difference to the bigger picture other than a resoundingly depressing one. But instead of ruining the movie for me, instead this plot hole turns it from a simple fun, rollicking adventure film into an epic tragedy.

Well if Indiana hadn't been there to take the Ark, surely when more Nazi's showed up to find everyone killed by a mystical phenomenon, they'd have second thoughts about showing it to their leader. And if they got a group of scientists to look at it and it killed all of them, they definitely wouldn't bring it to Hitler.

"Indy hadn't agreed to get the Ark in the first place, he wouldn't have been there to stop Marion being hot-pokered by Toht, possibly even killed. " Yes, that shows that because Indiana intervened, he saved Marion and had an impact on the story.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
There would have been someone, and the same result would have occurred.

If it hadn't have been Indiana Jones, it would have been Indiana Smith or Montana Jones.

Or it would have been an army sent to deal with the issue, and the problem would have been eventually resolved with the same outcome, once the Ark had been discovered.

Or would it?

If Indy hadn't let Belloq escape with the Ark, would the Americans and British believe that it really possessed dangerous powers? Would they have just opened it as they would any other box? And in the process killed themselves? Depending where they opened it, and if they all died, the Ark would be sitting somewhere unprotected for the Gestapo still active to reclaim it for Berlin.

Indy had to fail, in order for the Ark to be secured.
 
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